This invention relates in general to vehicle seats, and in particular to vehicle seats incorporating airbags mounted therein.
In recent years, vehicles are being equipped with side airbags which are deployable to a position lateral of an occupant of the vehicle. Some of these airbags are mounted within a vehicle seat in their non-deployed state. Commonly, the airbag is housed within an airbag module mounted in the outboard side bolster of the seat back of the vehicle seat. The modules include a housing containing a folded airbag and an inflator. The airbag module is typically surrounded by the foam padding and outer trim cover which covers the entire seat back. Upon detection of an impact condition in which the airbag is to be deployed, a controller energizes the inflator causing an expansion of gas within the airbag. The expansion of gas causes the airbag to rapidly expand and extend outwardly from the housing. Conventional seat backs incorporating these types of airbags often include an aperture or slot formed in the foam pad and break away seams formed in the trim cover to properly direct the expanding airbag through the bolster.
It is generally desirable to prevent loose fragmentation of the foam pad during airbag deployment when the airbag is forced through the slot of the foam padding. It is known to reduce foam fragmentation by molding a fabric net into the slot of the foam padding around the airbag module. Although the use of a fabric net helps to reduce foam fragmentation, this addition of a molded fabric net increases the cost of the vehicle seat.